The shooting of the teen girl comes at a time when police use of force around the nation is under new scrutiny.Ĭolumbus City Council President Shannon Hardin spoke of Ma’Khia’s death during a committee meeting to vet nominees for a new civilian review board that will oversee the city’s police force. “As we breathed a collective sigh of relief today, a community in Columbus felt the sting of another police shooting,” Floyd family attorney Benjamin Crump tweeted. Ma’Khia died on the same day that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the murder of George Floyd. “Oh, that never happened in your school or neighborhood? She didn’t deserve to die. “How in the hell does this police officer think it’s a good idea to fire shots blindly into a group of teenagers having a fight? Yes one of them has a knife,” Griffin said. “We know based on this footage, the officer took action to protect another young girl in our community,” the mayor explained.Ĭomedian Kathy Griffin expressed outrage on Twitter over the teen’s shooting. “But I do know that with Ma’Khia having that lethal weapon in her hand, she did need to be stopped.”Ĭolumbus Mayor Andrew Ginther addressed the incident at a news conference. Now, whether or not less lethal force could have been used, whether or not a Taser could have been chosen instead of a gun - I don’t know,” Ira Graham, a neighbor, said. “I can certainly see why the police officer chose to stop her. Many are not disputing that Ma’Khia appeared to be more of the aggressor because she had the knife, but they are wondering if there could have been a safer way to de-escalate the situation. “My daughter dispatched Columbus police for protection, not to be a homicide today,” her mother said.

Ma’Khia is the one who initially called police for help. And that’s something that I want to always be remembered.” “She was a very loving, peaceful little girl. She said ‘Mommy, I made honor roll.’ She said ‘Mommy, I’m looking forward to coming home,'” her mother, Paula Bryant, told reporters. Ma’Khia was staying at a foster home and had just shared exciting news of the progress she was making in her life a few days prior. One officer began to attend to the shooting victim, who has been identified as Ma’Khia Bryant by her mother. People could be heard yelling, “She’s just a kid!” and “Are you stupid?”

The officer yells “Get Down! Get down! Get down! Get down!” before firing four shots in the direction of the armed teenager. Get down!” before the armed girl appears to lunge at a second girl with the knife. You could hear the officer yelling on the video, “Hey, hey, hey, hey. The first officer to arrive to the scene approached the group in the driveway of a home, and witnessed one girl quickly moving toward another girl with what appeared to be a knife, while the unarmed girl fell to the ground. from someone indicating “females were there trying to stab them and put their hands on them.” On Tuesday, a Columbus, Ohio police officer arrived to the scene of a fight where he saw what appeared to be a teen attempting to cut two females with a knife, according to body camera footage officials released to the media.Ĭolumbus Interim Police Chief Michael Woods said police received a call at 4:32 p.m. The deadly police shooting this week of a 16-year-old Black girl who was armed with a knife during a fight is revisiting the question of law enforcement policies and excessive use of force?

Columbus police shooting knife